The Irish standard., 1887-04-23

for moment the calmness of the fea-
; lures, gives directness and strength OF
impact which no wilder Or more ve-
hement demeanor could cause.
But if MIR. Dillon's bearing and de-
meanor are always grave. even TO aus
terity, it must not be for a moment
imagined that MI Dillon is in any sense
gloomy man. Those who know him
well-and even those who do not know
MIN welfare acquainted with the sin
gularly sweet smile which can st times
light up the face which the whole howl
ing world of hostile Torydom imagines
to he set forever in hint-l1ke hatred Of
the Saxon. Mr.. Dillon has All exceed
iugly keen sense of humor; an exceed
ingly quick appreciation Of character,
an exc edingly swift power Of coming
t, a decision upon any human problem
presented to his consideration. Few
men have more decided opinions; few
men arrive at their opinions by more
definite and we'll defined processes nf
thought. Sham, affectation, quaekery
of any kind in all it's hundred and one
forms have no power Of deception over
John Dillon. lie sees through them
swiftly, surely: Judges them unconl-
pronisingIy and sets them aside.
But his manner is never the man.
ner Of hlnos and Radamanthus;
if he is always in earnest he does.
not consider it an essential appanage Of
esrnestness to adopt forbiddjng mood
Of gloom. There is no better, brighter,
keener taIker than he is in the House Of
Commons there is no man who takes
q kindler view Of his felow-lnel and
who is more ready to deal le,,iently
with the shortcomings Of others: there
is no man who is more ready to lec0e--
niZa ability or to respect honest opin-
ions even where they differ most widely
from those which be himself holds
Some years ago, liz the days when
Irishmen had fewer friends among the
| English press Chan they now have, a GER.
tain English comic paper took it upn1g
itself to celebrate MIR. John DilIou's-
comnlittal to prison by q couple ofil!ns-,
trations. One Of these illustrations
portrayed Mr.. Dillon as the heavily
roanacled captive of q rnelodramatic
dungeon. and il bore beneath it the lp~
gend, "rhis is MI Dillon as tbs
prisoner Of Chillon.'' The ether pic.
ture represented Mr.. Dillon WITH g
hrimnling champagne glass in one
hand and q particularly colossal cigar
in the other. evidently enjoying himself
to the utmost during his temporary re-
tirement, and this masterpiece bore the
inscription. This is Mr. Dillon %
smokin' and swillin'' The idea, OF
course, which this brace Of illustrations
intended to convey was chat while the
outer public might imagine that Mr..
Dillon WAS; having Il tireary time OF it in
jail he was really enjoying himself very
much jndeed, and after. the fashion
most delightful to himself Seldom,
perhaps, has more pontless satire been
perpetrated. MI. Dillon is probably fas
abstemious q man as any human being
not solennniy and seriously pledged to
total abstinence can be, and as for
smoking, Goethe and Wordsworth, who
Dillon in that as we'll IS in other re"
spects q most delightful cornpanion As
a reveller, indeed. MI. Dillon does not
shine. The ignorant foreigner who al
,;ntyr ho !c,Jt
bowl and singing snatches of BaccF1!c
melody of the "Cruishkeen Lawn
school , ould be tlismally disappointed
by Mr.. Dillon. It is indeed at sou,e
great public banquet that Mr. Dillon
permits the shades of melancholy to-
settle most decisively upon his brow
When the canakins are being clinl1ed
and the hea|ths are going round ana
round Mr. Dillon does not Indeed look
IS if he was enjoying himself. The
handsome face grows graver, the dark
eyes more thoughtful and distracted,
and while hour succeeds to hour and
poetic fancy is crowning. the hrows Of
jewellers with chapltts Of latest roses
he grows more and more like craven
image frozen into silence by the very at
mosphere which unties the tongues and
exhilarates the spirits of men cast in
another mold. But it is only when fes-.
tiyity is as it we're the order Of the day
that Mir. Dillon does not seem exactly
in his elenoa aDt. Put him into the COM
pany Of d Few friends, remove from the
surroundings all suggestion of perfume
tory and inevitable hilarity. and note
how the sombre young hidalgo brightens
into the cheeriest. kindliest, sweetest Of
companions. "Life, my young FRIEND"
says Thackerary somewhere. is not all
jocular." Certainly Mir. Dillon does
not regard life as all jocular: but the
people who imagine that because he is
so intensely, so uncompromisingl in
earnest, he can therefore unbend, and
laugh, and talk, and make merry like
men with a less SERIOUS destiny, simply